Dear David,
You raise so many important issues. In particular your statement in regard
to Count Baldwin IV's view of Macaire's sanctity is very thought-provoking
where you state: "I am starting to suspect that the problem may be
methodological, and involve a difficulty in accommodating notions of
sanctity with the world of realpolitik."
Your contextualising of Baldwin in the local and comital politics at Ghent
is crucial in understanding Baldwin's perceptions of Macaire and Richard
of St. Vanne. But I also think that it is equally crucial to contexualise
the role of religious ideals in eleventh-century Ghent. The belief in the
intersection of the sacred and the profane worlds was a central motif in
the medieval period, and I think this is especially witnessed when
considering the sites of saints cults. Perhaps, one methodological path
you can take is to look at the writings of Mircea Eliade, in particular
his book *The Sacred and the Profane. The Nature of Religion: The
Significance of religious myth, symbolism, and ritual within life and
culture*. Although originally printed in 1957, I find this book very
helpful in reminding me how central the religious/spiritual ideals were in
the middle ages (and other periods) and how these ideals were integrated
into all aspects of life, even into the cut throat business of realpolitik.
There is also a very interesting article by J. Riley-Smith entitled
"Crusading as an act of love." (I do not remember where this appeared but
it was published sometime in the mid-1970s). It shows how closely
interlinked high expressions of spiritually were with violence, and
demonstrates how for people in the middle ages there was not present our
distinction between peace and love on one hand and violence and evil on
the other.
All the best,
Carolyn Muessig
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